Blessed are the peacemakers

 

On Remembrance Sunday this year, I spoke from this verse in,

Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

I asked the group a question: What does being a peacemaker look like?

Is it, Not taking sides? Remaining silent ? Or having a quiet personality

I grew up in a loving close knit extended family, the youngest cousin for a number of years. Having an older sister and brother by several years meant my being spoiled was inevitable; and I was.

I have clear memories of my own of my demanding nature, and when I met with neighbours from my very young days, they would inform me about my ability to scream very loud if I did not get my own way - oh the shame.

In my defence our household was somewhat filled with fiery personalities, my dad and older sister had many an argument on a Sunday afternoon post the Sunday lunch pub outing. Sadly I shared theirs and not my mum and brothers calmer natures.

My oldest and youngest daughters have inherited this fiery disposition and once relayed to me a time on a youth holiday when they were both arguing.

A friend then came along and used the phrase; 'calm down'. They both instantly had a common enemy and they quickly unleashed their fury her. They obviously both feel very sad that this occurred but as they said - red rag to a bull moment!

Remembrance Sunday is celebrated both in the United States and the Commonwealth, it is to commemorate the contribution of both military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts and it is held on the second Sunday in November, the Sunday nearest to 11th.

The wearing of the poppy was an idea conceived by Moina Michael, an American professor and humanitarian, as a symbol of remembrance for those who served in World War I.

I read the poem , "In Flanders Fields" written during the First World War by a Canadian physician Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae.

He was inspired to write it on May 3, 1915, after presiding over the funeral of friend and fellow soldier Alexis Helmer, who died in the Second Battle of Ypres.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

Sadly this poem speaks of the premature death of those fighting, often these are very young men at the prime of their lives.

The torch is passed on to those who will continue to fight the enemy. Their deaths are to not be in vein and must be vindicated by winning the war.

The reality is the opposing side are equally driven by the belief that their side is right, they too are fighting on the 'right side'.

The First World War was supposed to be the ; 'The war to end all wars' this statement was attributed to USA president Woodrow Wilson, but was quickly met with cynicism, journalist Walter Lippmann wrote in Newsweek in 1967, "the delusion is that whatever war we are fighting is the war to end war", whilst in his Silent Majority speech Richard Nixon said, "I do not tell you that the war in Vietnam is the war to end wars"

Mary Scully a Human rights activist from the USA

Recently said

"Constant war is an inner compulsion, the driving force of neoliberalism, the barbaric phase of capitalism. But for tens of thousands of people, war is not carnage & devastation--it's good business.

An international arms fair held recently in Saudi Arabia had 100,000 arms dealers, military & government officials from around the world. according to one research institute, arms sales of the top 100 arms dealers & military services at the 2013 totalled $402 billion.

According to Paramount Group (a South African consortium of military manufacturers), military spending among Middle Eastern regimes grew to $120.6 billion in 2014. This year, 1,200 companies from 56 countries displayed their military wares. Arms dealers don't worry about things like weapons "falling into the wrong hands." Business is business; war is business.

The US can no longer claim ISIS is armed by weaponry captured from the Iraqi Army in 2014. Conflict Armament Research, an NGO that tracks movement of military weaponry internationally, concluded last year that ISIS is armed by US & Chinese munitions (including small arms & heavy equipment like Humvees). They found 20 percent of ISIS munitions were manufactured in the USA.

I was saddened when I looked at the UK and our record on arms buying. Out of the 50 most populated countries in our world we are 22 with 64 million people. The top 5 are China, India, USA, Indonesia and Brazil.

But these were the statistics that saddened me, we are ranked fifth in the world for arm sales. We spend 62 billion, a £1,000 per head of population. Why on earth as a small nation are we spending so much on arms? The top 4 nations are USA who spend 581 billion, China, 129 billion, Saudi, spends 81 billion and Russia, 70 billion.

It's worth noting about Saudi Arabia who are the 46th populated nation and who are spending a fortune on these weapons. It is also a nation with a terrible human rights record. Yet at this moment they are both ours and USA's strange 'bedfellows'.

Peace groups and organisations from across the UK; including, Campaign Against Arms Trade, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Pax Christi, Quaker Peace and Social Witness, War on Want, Stop The War Coalition challenged the $1.75 trillion spent annually on the military and on war.

In his message to the Vienna Conference on Nuclear Weapons in December 2015, Pope Francis said: "The security of our own future depends on guaranteeing the peaceful security of others, for if peace, security and stability are not established globally, they will not be enjoyed at all. Individually and collectively, we are responsible for the present and future wellbeing of our brothers and sisters."

Explaining why campaigners are opposed to high military spending, they say: "We are always being told that high military spending is necessary to maintain peace, create jobs and combat terrorism. This myth is promoted by governments and by multinational arms companies who benefit from the global arms trade politically and economically.

"Military spending prevents the money from being used to tackle much greater challenges; such as relieving poverty, improving health and protecting the environment."

Rene Girard a Stamford professor who died recently was interested in the causes of conflict and violence and the role of imitation in human behaviour, this is known as 'mimetic theory.' Our desires, he wrote, are not our own; we want what others want. How true, we only need to watch a child playing with other children, their desire for the same toy is far more about having 'it' than the actual worth of the toy itself. I know this only too well when I am refereeing between my three young grandchildren.

These duplicated desires can then lead to rivalry and ultimately end with violence (Thankfully not with the grandchildren) and Girard proposed that human conflict was not caused by our differences, but rather by our sameness. Individuals and societies offload blame and culpability onto an outsider, a scapegoat, who on receiving the blame can then be eliminated or done away with, and this is done with the hope that unity will be restored.

We can see this blame game being played out vividly with the current and ongoing refugee crisis. This crisis has come from wars created by the western governments and they were, 'over there', but now this migration has brought thousands right to our doorstep both here and across Europe.

Refugees are often scapegoated in our media and press as, 'Coming over here to steal our lives and our jobs.'

The poor in our society are demonised and despised for being 'on benefits' and we have television programmes that show only a single story and not that of the majority who are struggling to make ends meet and life work.

Joan Halifax a Buddhist nun gave a really interesting TED talk, in it she speaks about compassion and her work on death row with the inmates.

She found that, 'the seeds of their own compassion that had never been watered'. Her view is that compassion is actually an inherent human quality and is there within every human being. The conditions for compassion though have to be activated and to be aroused, by particular conditions.

All our own life stories and our own journeys can ignite this within us to varying degrees.

Sadly compassion has enemies, and those enemies are things like pity, moral outrage, fear. These emotions are the ones heightened by the media in the way they tell the story of the poor or the refugee.

"I know it's sad, but our country is already full up".

"Why do they all have phones"?

"Why is it all young men"?

We can see these questions and thoughts remove us from having to have true compassion for the plight of those worse off than ourselves.

Our world is sadly paralysed by fear and in that paralysis, we of course lose our capacity for compassion.The very word terror is on all our news feeds and can leave each of us terrified especially after the recent and terrible bombings in Tunisia, Beirut and Paris.

Theologian, Walter Bruegmann, writes in his book, 'Prophetic imagination'

That Empires are never built on compassion, but live by numbness. That Empires in their militarism expect numbness about the human cost of war. That Corporate economics expect blindness to the cost in terms of poverty and exploitation.

He speaks of Jesus, in his solidarity with the marginalised, 'he is moved to compassion'.

I believe as a Christian that Jesus came to penetrate this numbness by his compassion and by his compassion takes the first step, making visible the abnormality that had become business as usual, the nothing to see here, mindset that dulls our senses to the craziness of war and conflict.

The Greek word for compassion in the New Testament is 'splagchnoisomai' and it means: TO LET ONES INNARDS (feelings) EMBRACE THE FEELINGS OR SITUATION OF ANOTHER.

Can either numb us or activate us to do something

Peacemakers are called to be compassionate people

We can either retreat or advance

Empires are never built on compassion - The Kingdom of God is built on compassion

Empires live by numbness - The Kingdom of God mobilises our immunity

Empires embrace war and conflict - we as the children of God living in his kingdom

Let's imagine what this could be if we turned swords into ploughshares

Micah 4:2-3 NIV- the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He will judge between many peoples and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. …

Peacemaker - is not about remaining silent, sometimes we have to have the loudest voices to raise awareness of injustice

Not about being quiet- sometimes those with the quietest personalities are working hard to see change for others in our world

And it certainly not about 'not taking sides' we read in

Luke 4:17-19 NIV

and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor .”

I sit here waiting for the vote in parliament that will inevitably take us again into war. Take us to a place of bombing innocents, the collateral damage of many more lives decided in this vote is an acceptable price to pay.

I am encouraged that so many have stood opposed to war, so many have demonstrated, signed petitions, wrote to their MP's.

So many have acted like peacemakers and I say well done for trying.

There is much more to do we cannot give up, the job of peacemaker, sadly is never done.

Posted with Blogsy

Blessed are the peacemakers

 

Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

 

I asked the group a question: What does being a peacemaker look like?

Is it, Not taking sides? Remaining silent ? Or having a quiet personality

I grew up in a loving close knit extended family, the youngest cousin for a number of years. Having an older sister and brother by several years meant my being spoiled was inevitable; and I was.

I have clear memories of my own of my demanding nature, and when I met with neighbours from my very young days, they would inform me about my ability to scream very loud if I did not get my own way - oh the shame.

In my defence our household was somewhat filled with fiery personalities, my dad and older sister had many an argument on a Sunday afternoon post the Sunday lunch pub outing. Sadly I shared theirs and not my mum and brothers calmer natures.

My oldest and youngest daughters have inherited this fiery disposition and once relayed to me a time on a youth holiday when they were both arguing.

A friend then came along and used the phrase; 'calm down'. They both instantly had a common enemy and they quickly unleashed their fury her. They obviously both feel very sad that this occurred but as they said - red rag to a bull moment!

Remembrance Sunday is celebrated both in the United States and the Commonwealth, it is to commemorate the contribution of both military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts and it is held on the second Sunday in November, the Sunday nearest to 11th.

The wearing of the poppy was an idea conceived by Moina Michael, an American professor and humanitarian, as a symbol of remembrance for those who served in World War I.

I read the poem , "In Flanders Fields" written during the First World War by a Canadian physician Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae.

He was inspired to write it on May 3, 1915, after presiding over the funeral of friend and fellow soldier Alexis Helmer, who died in the Second Battle of Ypres.

 

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Sadly this poem speaks of the premature death of those fighting, often these are very young men at the prime of their lives.

The torch is passed on to those who will continue to fight the enemy. Their deaths are to not be in vein and must be vindicated by winning the war.

The reality is the opposing side are equally driven by the belief that their side is right, they too are fighting on the 'right side'.

The First World War was supposed to be the ; 'The war to end all wars' this statement was attributed to USA president Woodrow Wilson, but was quickly met with cynicism, journalist Walter Lippmann wrote in Newsweek in 1967, "the delusion is that whatever war we are fighting is the war to end war", whilst in his Silent Majority speech Richard Nixon said, "I do not tell you that the war in Vietnam is the war to end wars"

 

Mary Scully a Human rights activist from the USA

Recently said

"Constant war is an inner compulsion, the driving force of neoliberalism, the barbaric phase of capitalism. But for tens of thousands of people, war is not carnage & devastation--it's good business.

 

An international arms fair held recently in Saudi Arabia had 100,000 arms dealers, military & government officials from around the world. according to one research institute, arms sales of the top 100 arms dealers & military services at the 2013 totalled $402 billion.

According to Paramount Group (a South African consortium of military manufacturers), military spending among Middle Eastern regimes grew to $120.6 billion in 2014. This year, 1,200 companies from 56 countries displayed their military wares. Arms dealers don't worry about things like weapons "falling into the wrong hands." Business is business; war is business.

The US can no longer claim ISIS is armed by weaponry captured from the Iraqi Army in 2014. Conflict Armament Research, an NGO that tracks movement of military weaponry internationally, concluded last year that ISIS is armed by US & Chinese munitions (including small arms & heavy equipment like Humvees). They found 20 percent of ISIS munitions were manufactured in the USA.

I was saddened when I looked at the UK and our record on arms buying. Out of the 50 most populated countries in our world we are 22 with 64 million people. The top 5 are China, India, USA, Indonesia and Brazil.

But these were the statistics that saddened me, we are ranked fifth in the world for arm sales. We spend 62 billion, a £1,000 per head of population. Why on earth as a small nation are we spending so much on arms? The top 4 nations are USA who spend 581 billion, China, 129 billion, Saudi, spends 81 billion and Russia, 70 billion.

It's worth noting about Saudi Arabia who are the 46th populated nation and who are spending a fortune on these weapons. It is also a nation with a terrible human rights record. Yet at this moment they are both ours and USA's strange 'bedfellows'.

Peace groups and organisations from across the UK; including, Campaign Against Arms Trade, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Pax Christi, Quaker Peace and Social Witness, War on Want, Stop The War Coalition challenged the $1.75 trillion spent annually on the military and on war.

In his message to the Vienna Conference on Nuclear Weapons in December 2015, Pope Francis said: "The security of our own future depends on guaranteeing the peaceful security of others, for if peace, security and stability are not established globally, they will not be enjoyed at all. Individually and collectively, we are responsible for the present and future wellbeing of our brothers and sisters."

Explaining why campaigners are opposed to high military spending, they say: "We are always being told that high military spending is necessary to maintain peace, create jobs and combat terrorism. This myth is promoted by governments and by multinational arms companies who benefit from the global arms trade politically and economically.

"Military spending prevents the money from being used to tackle much greater challenges; such as relieving poverty, improving health and protecting the environment."

Rene Girard a Stamford professor who died recently was interested in the causes of conflict and violence and the role of imitation in human behaviour, this is known as 'mimetic theory.' Our desires, he wrote, are not our own; we want what others want. How true, we only need to watch a child playing with other children, their desire for the same toy is far more about having 'it' than the actual worth of the toy itself. I know this only too well when I am refereeing between my three young grandchildren.

These duplicated desires can then lead to rivalry and ultimately end with violence (Thankfully not with the grandchildren) and Girard proposed that human conflict was not caused by our differences, but rather by our sameness. Individuals and societies offload blame and culpability onto an outsider, a scapegoat, who on receiving the blame can then be eliminated or done away with, and this is done with the hope that unity will be restored.

We can see this blame game being played out vividly with the current and ongoing refugee crisis. This crisis has come from wars created by the western governments and they were, 'over there', but now this migration has brought thousands right to our doorstep both here and across Europe.

Refugees are often scapegoated in our media and press as, 'Coming over here to steal our lives and our jobs.'

The poor in our society are demonised and despised for being 'on benefits' and we have television programmes that show only a single story and not that of the majority who are struggling to make ends meet and life work.

Joan Halifax a Buddhist nun gave a really interesting TED talk, in it she speaks about compassion and her work on death row with the inmates.

She found that, 'the seeds of their own compassion that had never been watered'. Her view is that compassion is actually an inherent human quality and is there within every human being. The conditions for compassion though have to be activated and to be aroused, by particular conditions.

All our own life stories and our own journeys can ignite this within us to varying degrees.

Sadly compassion has enemies, and those enemies are things like pity, moral outrage, fear. These emotions are the ones heightened by the media in the way they tell the story of the poor or the refugee.

"I know it's sad, but our country is already full up".

"Why do they all have phones"?

"Why is it all young men"?

We can see these questions and thoughts remove us from having to have true compassion for the plight of those worse off than ourselves.

Our world is sadly paralysed by fear and in that paralysis, we of course lose our capacity for compassion.The very word terror is on all our news feeds and can leave each of us terrified especially after the recent and terrible bombings in Tunisia, Beirut and Paris.

Theologian, Walter Bruegmann, writes in his book, 'Prophetic imagination'

That Empires are never built on compassion, but live by numbness. That Empires in their militarism expect numbness about the human cost of war. That Corporate economics expect blindness to the cost in terms of poverty and exploitation.

He speaks of Jesus, in his solidarity with the marginalised, 'he is moved to compassion'.

I believe as a Christian that Jesus came to penetrate this numbness by his compassion and by his compassion takes the first step, making visible the abnormality that had become business as usual, the nothing to see here, mindset that dulls our senses to the craziness of war and conflict.

The Greek word for compassion in the New Testament is 'splagchnoisomai' and it means: TO LET ONES INNARDS (feelings) EMBRACE THE FEELINGS OR SITUATION OF ANOTHER.

Can either numb us or activate us to do something

Peacemakers are called to be compassionate people

We can either retreat or advance

Empires are never built on compassion - The Kingdom of God is built on compassion

Empires live by numbness - The Kingdom of God mobilises our immunity

Empires embrace war and conflict - we as the children of God living in his kingdom

Let's imagine what this could be if we turned swords into ploughshares

Micah 4:2-3 NIV- the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He will judge between many peoples and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. …

Peacemaker - is not about remaining silent, sometimes we have to have the loudest voices to raise awareness of injustice

 

Not about being quiet- sometimes those with the quietest personalities are working hard to see change for others in our world

 

And it certainly not about 'not taking sides' we read in

Luke 4:17-19 NIV

and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor .”

I sit here waiting for the vote in parliament that will inevitably take us again into war. Take us to a place of bombing innocents, the collateral damage of many more lives decided in this vote is an acceptable price to pay.

I am encouraged that so many have stood opposed to war, so many have demonstrated, signed petitions, wrote to their MP's.

So many have acted like peacemakers and I say well done for trying.

There is much more to do we cannot give up, the job of peacemaker, sadly is never done.

 

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

My birthday blog

21 August my birthday. Today is that day again. My 55th birthday, even writing this seems unbelievable, although I am grateful for everyone of these. In my day job as a nurse I often hear my patients at work telling me 'don't get old, it's no fun'. My come back is always 'it's better than the alternative'.

I am grateful for this birthday; being treated to presents, cards and hugs, all of which I gladly accept.

I have been happy to spend this with my lovely Alan and my 95 year old dad.

What a blessing this is; having parents who had you at 40 makes you fearful when growing up that you will not have them around into your older age.

My memories of my earlier birthdays were spent with my extended family on our annual holiday which occurred during 'wakes week'. This was the time that towns in the North all had their collective time off work. Our family destinations included Wales, Norfolk, but my main and best memories are those we spent in Newquay, Cornwall.

To be surrounded by your family on your very special day, to be centre of attention for that day was definitely something. Being the youngest of 3 with a much older sister and brother (making me already very spoiled) was why birthdays and their memories are to be treasured.

So here I sit after a lovely day spent with some of my lovely family, looking back on my life with all its ups and downs with an overwhelming sense of gratitude.

Social networking has brought family and friends back into my world and I love connecting and sharing stories, having 'happy birthday from family and friends near and far is just lovely.

I know that for some these relationships can be dismissed and disparaged as not real, for me I hold to the view that connection is always the best thing.

So thank you everyone who has noticed it's my birthday: thank you for taking time to help me celebrate and write your greeting. I truly appreciate them all. We are thankfully all different: we share some things or nothing in common but in this space we learn about one another and embrace new thoughts. I for one feel enhanced with my connections and I pray as each of you have birthdays or highs and lows we can find time to connect, celebrate, commiserate and share.

Love Bev x

21/8/2015

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

When governments don't act people must

"When governments don't act people must"

Recently I attended a meeting on a very warm summers evening with a group of people packed into a small upper room of a local cafe.

We were all gathered to hear James Godfrey and Sharyn Lock speak about the latest Freedom Flotilla 111 and its mission to sail into Gaza port.

The last flotilla in 2010 had seen the deaths of 10 peace activists.

Sharyn had participated in the last flotilla to be able to land safely in Gaza in 2008. The latest news on the flotilla as we were meeting was that the lead boat the Marianne of Gothenberg had been boarded in international waters and at that point they had no official word on the crew.

 

James spoke about the occupation of Gaza, as he said in one evening the history of this area is complex and should be looked at further; sadly there is much to read from the 67 years of conflict.
This information is from the 'International committee for breaking the siege of Gaza'.

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, 70% of whom are refugees, have lived under a draconian siege imposed by Israel since 2007. The Israeli authorities unilaterally control the entry and exit of goods and people by land, sea and air, with the exception of the civilian Rafah Crossing with Egypt. Some basic humanitarian goods are allowed to enter into the Strip, but never enough, while other necessary goods are entirely forbidden. People also cannot exit and enter Gaza freely, not even for commercial and humanitarian purposes. All of these restrictions are why many, including UN officials, have referred to Gaza as an "open air prison".

Since the beginning of the siege, Israel has also launched three protracted military assaults on Gaza: in 2008/2009, 2012 and 2014. Each of these attacks has worsened Gaza’s already dire humanitarian situation, with tens of thousands of homes, schools and office buildings destroyed.
There has been several freedom flotillas since the occupation, Sharyn an independent midwife from Gaza was on the 2008 Florilla that managed to land in Gaza to a rapturous welcome:
"You could see smiles on their faces like flowers blooming".
This breaking of the siege brought long hoped for joy, even if it was to be short-lived.
In 2006 in a democratic election and much to the disdain of the Israeli government saw Hamas win to become the leading party. For Israel they saw this group as a terrorist organisation. And because of this they then instigated the blockade with an almost total lock down on this small enclave.
Today the average age in Gaza is 18 after 3 conflicts 2008, 2011 and the latest in 2014 where over 2,000 were killed.

After 9 years of this blockade the majority of the people were aged 9 when Hamas were given power to rule Gaza; the continued collective punishment is against thousands who it would seem are not responsible for the fury unleashed upon them on a regular basis by Israel.
Some information on the situation
100,000 people in Gaza are displaced
The border is controlled by Israel at the Rafah crossing into Gaza where they limit and control the food, power, communication and water, plus all goods for building.

Only 5% of the promise aid of 5.4 billion has been given to Gaza to date

Sadly after last conflict there are now:

Unexploded bombs

Chemicals in water meaning much of the water is unfit for human consumption.

57% of people are food insecure.

There is a major problem with untreated sewage.

Unemployment at 43% of the population.

Power outages in Gaza with limits to electricity of 12 hrs a day or less.

12 trucks only per day let into Gaza with aid

The fishermen of Gaza should have at least 6 nautical-miles (NM) to fish, this is often limited to 3NM. For the fishermen sadly the fish nearer to shore are smaller and not as mature, their catch is not as profitable and certainly not as good for the consumer. They are often targeted and shot at by the Israeli troops who patrol this area. Even more tragic is that these same fishermen have even lost their lives.

The history of each of the freedom flotillas has been fraught with sabotage of the ships and equipment, people being followed and harassed.

In 2010 the ship known as the Mavi Marmara set sail to Gaza as lead boat in the freedom flotilla. This voyage was met with tragedy when 10 peace activist were killed by the Israeli forces. Even though this was a crew who offered - Non violent resistance, this was sadly not reciprocated. To this day no one has been held accountable for these killings.
In 2014 the Gaza Ark a change of direction, this was the idea to build a boat in Gaza. They used local experts to work on the 24 metre fishing boat, refurbishing and filling it with locally sourced products to export out of Gaza.
This idea led to a lot of hope in Gaza and there was even a products list on the Gaza ark website.
The end of April 2014 saw the first test run which showed a problem with the propellor. The team got back to work with a view to sail in September 2014. Sadly on the 11th of July the boat was bombed by Israel. The only other place that was directly hit was the memorial to the Marvi Marmara and the 10 people who had lost their lives.
The team did not make a fuss because sadly lives were obviously more important, the accountant working on this project lost his brother during the conflict. And many others were deeply affected. The significance of these two bombings do continue to raise questions; was this a deliberate action by Israel?
The latest Freedom flotilla 111 had 47 sailors from 17 countries participating. The lead ship, the Marianne of Gothenburg, had been stopped in international waters that day and at the time of the talk the team still had no official news on where and how the crew were. The news was only reporting the official storyline given by Israel.
Sadly the crew of the Marianne were arrested and taken to Givon Prison in Israel. There was no loss of lives but tasers were used on the crew when Israel boarded the ship. The other ships in the flotilla returned home.

The ongoing way to help the Palestinian people peacefully will continue with those who work for the freedom flotilla continuing to find ways to break the siege. Plus the Boycott Divest and Sanctions group which is also a way to make big business think before trading with Israel. This certainly worked in South Africa to bring an end to the terrible system of apartheid.

A year after the last conflict raising awareness of the Palestinians and their plight continues.

I for one am thankful for these groups doing courageous acts to do this very thing.

The journey to see a free Palestine continues.

 

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Freedom Flotilla 111 2015 'Journey to Gaza'

"When governments don't act people must"

Recently I attended a meeting on a very warm summers evening with a group of people packed into a small upper room of a local cafe.

We were all gathered to hear James Godfrey and Sharyn Lock speak about the latest Freedom Flotilla 111 and its mission to sail into Gaza port.

Sharyn had participated in the last flotilla to be able to land safely in Gaza in 2008. The latest news on the flotilla as we were meeting was that the lead boat the Marianne of Gothenberg had been boarded in international waters and at that point they had no official word on the crew.

James spoke about the occupation of Gaza, as he said in one evening the history of this area is complex and should be looked at further; sadly there is much to read from the 67 years of conflict.

This information is from the 'International committee for breaking the siege of Gaza'.

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, 70% of whom are refugees, have lived under a draconian siege imposed by Israel since 2007. The Israeli authorities unilaterally control the entry and exit of goods and people by land, sea and air, with the exception of the civilian Rafah Crossing with Egypt (which is under control of Egypt). Some basic humanitarian goods are allowed to enter into the Strip, but never enough, while other necessary goods are entirely forbidden. People also cannot exit and enter Gaza freely, not even for commercial and humanitarian purposes. All of these restrictions are why many, including UN officials, have referred to Gaza as an "open air prison".

Since the beginning of the siege, Israel has also launched three protracted military assaults on Gaza: in 2008/2009, 2012 and 2014. Each of these attacks has worsened Gaza’s already dire humanitarian situation, with tens of thousands of homes, schools and office buildings destroyed.

There has been several freedom flotillas since the occupation, Sharyn an independent midwife from Gaza was on the 2008 Florilla that managed to land in Gaza to a rapturous welcome:
"You could see smiles on their faces like flowers blooming".
This breaking of the siege brought long hoped for joy, even if it was to be short-lived.

In 2006 in a democratic election and much to the disdain of the Israeli government saw Hamas win to become the leading party. For Israel they saw this group as a terrorist organisation. And because of this they then instigated the blockade with an almost total lock down on this small enclave.
Today the average age in Gaza is 18 after 3 conflicts 2008, 2011 and the latest in 2014 where over 2,000 were killed.

After 9 years of this blockade the majority of the people were aged 9 when Hamas were given power to rule Gaza; the continued collective punishment is against thousands who it would seem are not responsible for the fury unleashed upon them on a regular basis by Israel.

Some information on the situation

100,000 people in Gaza are displaced
The border is controlled by Israel at the Rafah crossing into Gaza where they limit and control the food, power, communication and water, plus all goods for building.
Only 5% of the promise aid of 5.4 billion has been given to Gaza to date
In 2010 the ship known as the Mavi Marmara set sail to Gaza as lead boat in the freedom flotilla. This voyage was met with tragedy when 10 peace activist were killed by the Israeli forces. Even though this was a crew who offered - Non violent resistance, this was sadly not reciprocated. To this day no one has been held accountable for these killings. Sadly after last conflict there are now: Unexploded bombs: Chemicals in water meaning much of the water is unfit for human consumption: 57% of people are food insecure: There is a major problem with untreated sewage: Unemployment at 43% of the population: Power outages in Gaza with limits to electricity of 12 hrs a day or less: 12 trucks only per day let into Gaza with aid.

The fishermen of Gaza should have at least 6 nautical-miles (NM) to fish, this is often limited to 3NM. For the fishermen sadly the fish nearer to shore are smaller and not as mature, their catch is not as profitable and certainly not as good for the consumer. They are often targeted and shot at by the Israeli troops who patrol this area. Even more tragic is that these same fishermen have even lost their lives.

The history of each of the freedom flotillas has been fraught with sabotage of the ships and equipment, people being followed and harassed.

2010 the ship known as the Mavi Marmara set sail to Gaza as lead boat in the freedom flotilla. This voyage was met with tragedy when 10 peace activist were killed by the Israeli forces. Even though this was a crew who offered - Non violent resistance, this was sadly not reciprocated. To this day no one has been held accountable for these killings.

In 2014 the Gaza Ark saw a change of direction, this was the idea to renovate a boat in Gaza. They used local experts to work on the 24 metre fishing boat, refurbishing and filling it with locally sourced products to export out of Gaza.

This idea gave hope to many working on the project and the products available to sell were listed on their very own Gaza ark website. The end of April 2014 saw the first test run which showed a problem with the propellor. The team got back to work with a view to sail in September 2014. Sadly on the 11th of July the boat was bombed by Israel during the onslaught known as 'Operation protective edge'. The only other place that was directly hit was the memorial to the Marvi Marmara and the 10 people who had lost their lives.

The team felt this was obviously significant but they did not make a fuss because sadly lives were obviously more important. The accountant from Gaza working on this project had a brother killed during the conflict; And many others were deeply affected. The significance of these two bombings does continue to raise questions; was this a deliberate action by Israel?

The latest Freedom flotilla 111 had 47 sailors from 17 countries participating. The lead ship, the Marianne of Gothenburg, had been stopped in international waters that day and at the time of the talk the team still had no official news on where and how the crew were. The news was only reporting the official storyline given by Israel.

Sadly the crew of the Marianne were arrested and taken to Givon Prison in Israel. There was no loss of lives but tasers were used on the crew when Israel boarded the ship. The other ships in the flotilla returned home.

The ongoing way to help the Palestinian people peacefully will continue with those who work for the freedom flotilla continuing to find ways to break the siege. Plus the Boycott Divest and Sanctions group which is also a way to make big business think before trading with Israel. This certainly worked in South Africa to bring an end to the terrible system of apartheid.

A year after the last conflict raising awareness of the Palestinians and their plight continues.

I for one am thankful for these groups doing courageous acts to do this very thing.
The journey to see a free Palestine continues.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Good news

 

At a recent Sunday service I spoke from Marks Gospel chapter one.

'The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God.' - Good news.

My key verse was- “The time is come and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news".

 

I love good news and I have been on the receiving end some wonderful news in my life.

Sadly though it more often feels there is not enough of it around.

The end of the news report is often given over to a light relief part to give you a cheery thought to send you on your way.

It's hard to escape reality for long though.

 

So what is this good news ?

If you had asked me as a child what do I believe after 'giving my life to Jesus' in my Sunday school class I would probably have answered - We give our lives to Jesus and then when we die we go to be with him in heaven.

My simple view was very much about life away from this life, this promise of eternity where as we sang with gusto each week 'Heaven is better than this' and that was where we wanted to go- maybe not quite just at that moment though.

 

Many New Testament scholars agree that at the heart of Jesus’s message his passion was for - “the kingdom of God.”

Jesus came to pronounce that "the Kingdom had come near."

 

In the first century, “kingdom” was a political term. Jesus’s hearers knew about the kingdoms of Herod and Rome and the Roman Empire.

 

Rome referred to itself as a “kingdom” and not as an empire.

If Jesus had wanted to avoid the political connotations of “kingdom” language, he could have spoken of the family of God or the community of God or the people of God.

But he didn’t. He used “kingdom” language.

The coming of the kingdom of God on earth was about justice and peace.

Justice: that everybody should have enough the 'daily bread' we pray for in the 'Lords prayer'.

And:

Peace, or Shalom, the Hebrew word goes beyond a simple one word interpretation, Shalom is more then just simply peace; it is a complete peace. It is a feeling of contentment, wholeness, well being and harmony. The absence of agitation or discord.

Every time we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we pray for the coming of the kingdom of God on earth.

 

As Dominic Crossan an ex-priest and theologian once said; "heaven’s in great shape – earth is where the problems are.

Jesus’ entire journey told people two major things:

 

That life could have a positive story line - there is good news.

 

And that God was far different and far better than we ever thought.

 

That Jesus came and humbled himself and personally walked through the process of being both rejected and forgiving, and then said;

 

“Follow me.”

In Mark 1v 16 -18 Jesus calls the first disciples.

As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him.

First good news has to be good - sounds obvious I know.

 

Second it has to be good for everyone, everywhere; no matter their circumstances.

Pastor Rick Warren stated.

'The Good News is that when we trust God’s grace to save us through the work of Jesus, our sins are forgiven, we get a purpose for living, and we’re promised a future home in Heaven.'

So even Pastor Rick from the mega church in Saddleback, California USA, highlights the escape to that - sweet by and by.

 

My first introduction to him was his book 'Purpose Driven church' followed by 'Purpose driven life'.

I did dip into these best selling books but to be honest my niggle came with the word 'driven'.

The teaching and its impact continues today with Mega centres definitely being 'driven' in their aims to grow the church.

Having attended and served in a mega church centre my view of it being 'driven' was shown to be true.

Everything is done at a high level that takes a lot of volunteers working hard for long hours. They have to be there well before meeting/conference starts and long after the last visitor or church member has left.

The intensity of volunteering and the sense that it's your 'act of service to God' can lead to meltdown for some and increasing disenchantment for others. The next step for some is to leave and find a less 'driven' smaller church, to leave the church completely or to attend but not serve in any capacity ( this is not always a problem, new attendees are often ready to engage and serve). I can't give any stats for this but this is my own observations both personal and that of others I have discussed with.

I mention this here because I think this is not the 'good news' that Jesus spoke about. The 'get saved and now serve model' is, I feel destructive in the long run for the reasons I have written. The promise of eternal life in payment for this service is not 'good news'.

 

I have met many who sadly have reasons they cannot hear the 'good news', because life itself is screaming 'too loudly', about their current situation filled with possible pain or problems.

In Mark 6 we read:

"Then, because so many people were coming and going that they (the disciples) did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them,

“Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."

So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place.

But many who saw them leaving recognised them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things. By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. “This is a remote place,” they said, “and it's already very late. Send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” But he answered, “You give them something to eat.”

When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd

 

Compassion - splangkh-nid'-zom-ahee in Greek means

To let ones inside(bowels) feel the situation of another.

1 John 4:20 tells us; "What is love if it remains invisible, inaudible, intangible. "Those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen."

 

Jesus told his disciples - YOU GIVE THEM SOMETHING TO EAT.

 

I would suggest to be successful at sharing this 'Good News', we must have this level of 'compassion'.

 

Jesus said to his disciples; "You give them something to eat."

 

Mahatma Gandhi said:

“There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.”

Japanese-American theologian Kosuke Koyama writes:

"The devastating poverty in which millions of children live is visible. Racism is visible. Machine guns are visible. Slums are visible. Starved bodies are visible. The gap between the rich and the poor is glaringly visible. Our response to these realities must be visible.

 

'Grace cannot function in a world of invisibility. Yet in our world, the rulers try to make invisible the alien, the orphan, the hungry and thirsty, the sick and imprisoned.

 

'This is violence. Their bodies must remain visible. There is a connection between invisibility and violence. People, because of the image of God they embody, must remain seen"

 

Walter Brueggemann states in his book

The Prophetic imagination that:

"Compassion constitutes a radical form of criticism, for it announces that the hurt is to be taken seriously, that the hurt is not to be accepted as normal and natural but is an abnormal and unacceptable condition for humanness.”

 

We see in the Bible the teaching of preference being given to the well-being of the poor and powerless of society in the teachings and commands of God as well as the prophets and other righteous people.

Jesus taught that on the Day of Judgment, God will ask what each person did to help the poor and needy: "

In Mark 6 we read:

The disciples were tired from telling the 'good news'.

Jesus wanted them to rest.

 

BUT:

 

The crowds were helpless and harassed and Jesus took pity on them and fed them with his 'good news', he spoke to them and told them stories to fill this hunger.

 

But then their spiritual hunger turned to physical hunger.

 

Jesus told his disciples to meet that need too.

 

I cannot help but feel good news comes attached to the needs of the people we are telling it too?

 

I like to think that 'you feed them', is not being 'driven' but being faithful with what we have, what we have received.

 

It's 'what have we got in our hands to share with others'?

 

It's reminding ourselves over and over that this is supposed to be 'Good news', it's a message that life can have a positive story line and that God is far better than we ever thought- now that's good news.

 

 

 

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